Before I say anything else - love your work!
Regarding the election, although you are technically voting for the guy whose kid launched a ridiculous shitcoin, in reality you are voting for thousands of political appointees who will take the reins of the administrative state (the real deep state) and hopefully use that power to guide us toward a bitcoin friendly regulatory environment. Think SEC, think banking regulators, think IRS....
And I know - Bitcoin doesn't care. But if you and your family happen to live in a Bitcoin-hostile locale, you would care. The alternative is KYC, non-custodial wallets being removed from the Google and Apple stores, the criminalization of digital private property.
It's aways been interesting to me that while most socialists would not describe themselves as creationists or believers in intelligent design, when it comes to the economy - an incalculable sum of the interactions of people across the globe- they kick evolution to the curb and go right to government as the creator of all things.
"Be yourself; everyone else is taken." Oscar Wilde
I just have to respect your optimism!
You have a depth of character that would make you a terrific mother.
It feels like summer has finally surrendered in the DC area. Mornings are crisp, even chilly, and afternoon highs have been consistently below 80 degrees. Traffic is abysmal. Of course, this weather is synonymous with election season, a time that consumes the Beltway but one that most Americans simply grit their teeth and endure.
What I’m watching:
The Middle East – Thus far my thinking on this has been correct (jinx!). Up until now Israel has opted against high-profile retaliatory action against Iran following Iran’s ballistic missile attack on 01 October. This is not to say that Israel has not been conducting retaliatory actions, as they have recently demonstrated that have a deep bench of capabilities at their disposal. But not the much-predicted kinetic attack on Iranian infrastructure.
As events unfold, I think Israel is looking to replicate the spirit of their Gaza operation in Lebanon against Hizballah. Decapitate it, cripple its ability to take the initiative militarily, and set the stage for an evolution of circumstances on the ground. The chattering classes in DC have also been floating the idea of a new paradigm in Lebanon. Ultimately, if Israel can defang Iran’s proxies in the region, the long-term effect will be greater than a potentially escalatory kinetic attack against energy infrastructure. Iran projects power through these proxies, their loss would be a significant blow.
China – The discussion about China’s hesitancy to dump a hot dose of adrenaline into the financial system reflects the choices Xi has made regarding China’s development. The WSJ journal just today ran a story about the scope and scale of China’s espionage operations – clearly a priority unaffected by the overall economic slowdown. What is interesting to me is how these choices are affecting the next generation of CCP leaders who grew up with the assumption of prosperity. Xi might have crowned himself leader for life, but even that lofty title is ultimately finite. I’m on the fence as to whether an economically suffering China under Xi is more or less likely to take military action against Taiwan. But I am reasonably optimistic that these same economic challenges make the prospect of a reprioritization of market reforms in a post-Xi world a decent bet.
What I’m Reading – The Fatal Conceit, Hayek.
Screw it. I’ve decided to become an MMTer of convenience. We’re now at a $1.8 trillion deficit for 2024 - so far. The line is blurry, but assuming we’ve crossed the threshold of no return, print away. Just keep my taxes low so I have more crappy dollars to trade for Bitcoin.
What a tremendous failure of our leadership class. Plan accordingly.
The key word is easily, and I agree, Nostr solves that. You deserve a lot of credit for kick-starting it all.
Not sure what came over me. I still have an X account, mostly because many of the commentators I follow post exclusively on X. But I generally restrict my own posts to Nostr. That said, while sipping on some Compass Coffee Bitcoin Blend this morning, I nearly Apple paid my way into an X Premium subscription – the blue check! Eleven dollars, and with Apply pay, two thumb clicks while staring into the screen is all you need. Ultimately, I didn’t do it. Time to get writing again on Nostr.
The summer kind of got away from me. Lots of happenings on the family front. There’s only so many hours in the day, and I’ve been making a more concerted effort to chop away at the pile of reading I’ve assigned myself. I’m also trying to be more balanced in what I read, making space for things other than Bitcoin books and the like. As Bitcoin becomes increasingly “normal,” probably time for me to do the same on the reading front.
Things I’m watching – the Middle East. I don’t think the tit-for-tat is over yet, although I suspect the overall decibel level of these actions is unlikely to continue escalating. But should the parties continue up the ladder of escalation, what might accelerate that doom loop? Keep an eye on Turkey. If the fighting in Lebanon expands, might Turkey step in to create some kind of safe zone in parts of Lebanon? That would put two US allies in geographic proximity to one another eyeball to eyeball. Just my own red team thinking.
And still aghast at what I’m reading about rescue operations in hurricane afflicted areas. The America I grew up in was better than this.
I attended the status conference for the #Samourai case today on behalf of nostr:npub1t8a7uumfmam38kal4xaakzyjccht4y5jxfs4cmlj0p768pxtwu8skh56yu.
Here’s where things stand:
#newstr #freesamourai #freedomtech
Excellent update.
My condolences.
There's also something to be said about no take-backs. If you post it, you better be comfortable with it forever!
Lots of great used book stores in the Washington, DC area. But the best, IMHO, remains the Second Story warehouse in Rockville, MD. Open every day.
